Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-03-15
STARVED AND FROZEN.
wrxrrn's R.vAors AxoSo Tur wrsrrns
CATTLE
THOUSANDS Lost on ruE DAKOTA AND
wYonfS0 PLAINS.
Rapid CITY. sDAiJ Letter.

A journey down the western slope OF
the BLACK Hi. TO the plains Of wyom.
ing In winter adds more 10 . mans infof-
nation than pleasure. The ss,spy Of
the weather has been eel, ,hroagkou, the
country; bot on these western plains.
sheltered by the mountains. where rough
wintry storms are little expected aud no
provision IL made 20 resist them. the
~in,sr has assumed a grim aud ierribls
aspect.
The writer. In company With the man.
.ger Of Dakota cattle company which
hep. 10 600 bead Of cattle ~inisring on
the ranges Of western Dakota aud eastern
Wyoming. recently made the journsy
do-n the western slope 81 the Hills 10
the Wyoming plains to observe hos the
herd. .urvis, the storms Of ~inisr With
out food or shelter.
The valley, Of the western Hill'. -.
psci.lly the deep aud narrow valley Of
the lnyon Ksgs. are filed 10 the depth
Of sigk, OF ten feet With snow. These
valley. are rendered pss,sbls TO the irav-
,l,r only by the eonsiAn, coming and go
ing Of the long trains q fieish, ~ssons.
In general single beaten track winds
through the narrow valley and eoniina-
on, tmbankmeni. Of snow -four or i've
Zee, high wall In The road Az irregular
interval. there are meeting. places where
the snow !. beaten down over 'p'oe
eide enough for two teams 20 pass With
out bsing burisd. Along the lnyon ksga
the Hills rise from 500 70 1000 feet on
either eide. Here and there along The
steep hillside, the ku, q miusr or hun
ter stand. In ds,o.sie solitude snding up
is smoke among the black pine grove.
or the ,now-covsrtd rocks. Oihsr~iss
these valleys are vas, soliiudss. disturbed
only by the noi.e Of the torrents and ihs
rambling Of The freight ~sgons. The
vsll'y. gradually widen and The bills
d~indle away ard hsally merge into one
side waste q drifting snow. Here and
there few blades q ~iihered grass rlse
above the surface Of SNOW. and The re-
goa ha. an undiisfably Wild ADD desc
late look. Far a, the eye can resch 70
find. nothing bat this S.har. q dnfsing
snow over which The wind s~esp. And
ho~l., save where here add there The
smoke i. seen curling up from the chin
nsy q isrd,mah's hut hsli.burisd In The
dnh. Ga the plain. the snow i found
several fee, lighter than Ia the valleys
above. Averaging from sish, 10 eighteen
inches. bat The ~ind bios. hurreans
from the north. ard the air j. hllsd with
binding cloud. Of sno~. Thn great
plain. buried deep IN snow. !. P,fh'P'
The CREATES, cattle range q the North
-e.'. being the summer and vinisr pas
turs of hundred. II Thousand. q cattle.
l.oug before reaching the pfineipsl
ranch or hssdquAfisr. II the company,
evidercss of The fatal severity Of The win
Ter storms were foand IN The sAIcass', Of
cattle bali buried IN the snow that lay
scattered over the plain. Looking IN any
direction. a horn. a nosc. OF an upiufted
lsg could BE- sen projecting above snow.
In drive u hfy milss. along the west
ern skirt Of The Hill. there ~as scarcely
a moment when the carcass of an animal
! "a. 90, visible within fes TOT, u The
track. sometime. tea % dozen Jay IN
group on The south ,ite OF knoll Or In
narro- ravine. where -ater misht once
nave rga. May Of them have ifoz'n
.ud While standing on their feet. Here
and there an animal or = group u All
ma, could BE- seen si.nding mo,ionlsss
add dead. With noses resting IN the saos.
Troop. Of hungry coyotes come Pro~ling
down the I'LL. Ia gorge themselves on
the frozen cNeasss.. Many "a animal
can BE- seen near The 100, o. the Hills.
standing ,iiilly on 10 feet Among The
drifting ,ros. with great holes torn IA
IL. sides by these isml.hins creatures.
-Four days we're 'Psn, a, the rancho Of
the Dakota company. aud had an oP-
porianliy Of more carefully inspeeiit <
the winter. havoc snong The herds.
Three monih. ago. mote than ten thou
: sand cattle osnsd by this company we're
grazing upon this range. all OF them iAi
aud healthy. !, woald take the spph-
Anes. Of = spanish lrqui'iiion 10 sHiori
from the owners = confession u their
pre.en, number. Ia one ravins. where
the cattle used 70 fnd water. Jay ons
hundred aud ,iIy.ssven dead, in little
more than mile. disAnee. Mosi Of
them were lying down. often four OF i've
piled together. showing that they stood
In groups. striving by united sflrs 20 re-
sist The deadly power Of the ffeszins
blast. Calves from az 10 eight mon,h.
old. lying by the sides Of their mother,
were among The e1mmonss, sights. AZ
one .ro,. youns calf lay half buried ia
the sfos. while the poor mother stood
over /, with Ter nose touching iis neck
At another spot stood Gov, siifsnsd
with cold. and young ealf by her side,
standing Ia attitude 10 suck. Ia another
rsvine. eiRhiy.t~o dead cattle were hesPei
together In the mid., u toe group ga.
sn old red bull standing on hi, feet, sur
rounded by heaps Of COWS add calves.
Most of the cattle were lyinx down; some
Of them had fallen upon their knees and
half dozen were oa their feet. Co.'s
exhausted by the summers sucking and
spring calves are the favoriie victims Of
tie storms. and these lie scattered over
the prairie In thousands.
There i, lot the .hghtss, winter pro-
vi,ion made for these yAs, herds. A man
may own ten thousand and have not =
bu.hsl Of corn. not = ton Of hay, or a
single shed for shelter. IL il no. the In.